Gernot,
As asymmetrical distribution of wealth and resources in the world indicates,
with the primary historical benefit accruing to Europe and North America,
both of which utilized racism and human bondage based on constructs of race
and color, effectively over many decades, with many of these structures still
extant and apologists still ascendant (as evidenced even on so-called
"progressive" listservs), it is quite appropriate to characterize
the current structure of world global social and political relations as
approximating a system of "global apartheid."
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Colin S. Cavell "Had it not been for the race problem
Department of Political Science early thrust upon me and enveloping
Thompson Tower, Box 37520 me, I should have probably been an
University of Massachusetts unquestioning worshipper at the shrine
Amherst, MA 01003-7520 of the established social order and of
Internet: cscpo@polsci.umass.edu the economic development into which I
Voice: (413) 546-3408 was born."
http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~cscpo --W.E.B. Du Bois, 1868-1963
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With reference to the discussion on race-related issues.
A handful of writers, including Ali Mazrui, also myself, have compared
the structure of the world system to the structure of (pre-Mandela) South
African apartheid (in the sense of a system) and called it "global
apartheid". The analogy has several dimensions: a (predominantly) white
minority is dominant in the system (military and political power), has a
vastly higher standard of living than the multiracial majority (wealth)
and is privileged in several other dimensions. Over much of the past 500
years, this system was explicitly justified in racial superiority terms.
How do others on the list react to such a concept (i.e., global apartheid)?
Regards,
-GK